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Election

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Left: Assemblyman Ed Flood (R-PortJefferson). Right: Rebecca Kassay. Courtesy Ed Flood and Rebecca Kassay for NYS Assembly's Facebook page

By Toni-Elena Gallo

In the wake of last Tuesday’s election, the race for NYS Assembly District 4 remains to be called.

With mail-in ballots still being counted, there is no exact timeline for when results will be in.

Rebecca Kassay released a statement last Thursday, saying, “We knew that the race for the NYS
Assembly seat in District 4 would be one of the most competitive races in New York State, and as of Wednesday, November 6, I hold a 211 vote lead. In a race this close, results will not be determined until the affidavit ballots and final mail in ballots are counted. This might take until late November, so in the meantime, our team is reflecting on our gratitude for the incredible individuals and community groups who we’ve connected with and built stronger relationships with during the journey of this campaign.”

“There is so much work to be done here in our district, our town, our county and our state, and I hope to have the opportunity to serve you as your Assemblymember,” Kassay continued.

TBR requested comment from Assemblyman Flood and his response was as follows: “As we await the final numbers, I want to express my heartfelt appreciation to everyone who has supported me throughout this campaign. I remain deeply committed to representing, advocating for and listening to our community. This dedication is not new; it has always been the foundation of my work and will continue to guide me moving forward.”

“Serving our community is an honor, and I am committed to ensuring that every voice is heard and every concern is addressed,” he continued.

 

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Pixabay photo

By Daniel Dunaief

Daniel Dunaief

Fear sells. It’s as true when companies are urging people to buy products to protect themselves, families, homes and cars as it is when politicians are trying to scare you  into voting for them or, just as importantly, voting against their opponent.

Sure, they make some effort to suggest that their policies will help you, but they spend considerably more time showing unnerving images of what might happen if you vote for the other team.

One side suggests that a vote for the other candidate could mean the end of democracy, elections and a host of freedoms, while the other suggests that a vote for the other side could mean an end to the world.

Whatever you believe, we have clearly reached an extreme of brinkmanship. 

On top of that, the news is filled with stories and images of murder and mayhem.

These days, all you need to do is turn on your phone and someone, somewhere, is struggling, threatened, or dying.

On top of that, people are sharing concerns about existential threats to the future, with global warming and declines in the food and water necessary to sustain the population.

Regardless of where people check in with the information of the day, threats lurk around every corner.

It’s no wonder that mental health has declined. The world is a place with dark shadows and horrifying possibilities.

Happily ever after has become the launching pad for fractured fairy tales, where couples can’t find affordable homes and, even if they did, couldn’t carry the mortgage.

This mental health strain and the difficulty of disconnecting from a phone that shares these bad news bulletins in constant alerts may be contributing to the record low fertility rate for the country reported this spring in the National Center for Health Statistics at the CDC. 

Specifically, the rates declined for women aged 20 to 39, hitting a record low for women between 20 and 24.

There are numerous other reasons people are foregoing the spectacularly rewarding and challenging decision to have children. Yes, men and women are pursuing careers.

And, yes, people may be more confident and comfortable having children later, putting off the life-altering decision until after a set of vacations, a work milestone or other goals.

But to know exactly why any one or group of people are making the decisions they do requires more than statistics or even surveys. When people answer questions in a survey, they sometimes offer the kinds of replies that look good or that the questioner expects.

I spoke anecdotally with a few 50’ish parents and some children around 30 and got a range of responses about the decision to have or not have children.

Both sides suggested that developing careers made it tougher to start a family. Parents, some of whom seemed eager to have grandchildren, expressed some frustration and, perhaps, judgement, about the decisions of their children and step-children.

Some of the younger crowd said their friends didn’t receive much parenting help from their partners, making the task of raising children more difficult and exhausting and dissuading them and their friends.

They also shared concerns about the high cost of raising children.

One of the younger set added that her mother had been dealing with a lifelong illness and that she had caretaking responsibilities from the time she was young. Her mother continues to need medical and family attention, which she said has made caring for a child less appealing.

One of the younger set asked me what I thought about being a parent. It has filled me with unbelievable joy, affection, love, and laughter and has helped me understand my own parents and grandparents better. Of course, we’ve had our share of challenges interspersed with stomach dropping moments.

Not to blame the media entirely, as I work and live inside that profession, but I feel like the nonstop stream of information, stories, videos, and social media shaming has left people feeling vulnerable and exhausted.

Parenting requires energy and optimism. When people lose sleep, they don’t have much energy and, if they look at their phones, they risk losing their hold on optimism. 

If we want to encourage this generation to continue the chain, we should let them know when they’re ready and when they ask, about the amazing and fulfilling moments, large and small, that make parenting the role of a lifetime.

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Marie Parziale, Xena Ugrinsky and Kyle Hill outside the polling site on June 18. Photo by Lynn Hallarman

By Aidan Johnson

Kyle Hill and Xena Ugrinsky will join the Port Jefferson Village Board of Trustees after winning the June 18 election, receiving 796 and 673 votes, respectively.

“What an outstanding turnout from Port Jefferson voters yesterday,” Port Jefferson Village Mayor Lauren Sheprow said. “We are very passionate about our elections!” 

The race saw three candidates—Hill, Ugrinsky and Port Jefferson resident Marie Parziale—compete for two open seats, replacing Deputy Mayor Rebecca Kassay and Village Trustee Drew Biondo. Parziale finished in third place with 449 votes.

Additionally, 90 write-in votes were cast, including for names such as former Deputy Mayor Kathianne Snaden, former Village Mayor Hal Sheprow, Deputy Mayor Rebecca Kassay and Brookhaven Town Democratic Committee Chair Anthony Portesy.

“I congratulate Xena and Kyle on their victories and look forward to working with them starting with our first meeting as a Board on July 1,” Sheprow said in a statement. “We have a lot of work to do! I know Xena will hit the ground running and I look forward to getting to know Kyle and hearing more about what he would like to contribute as a Trustee.”

In an interview after the results were announced, Hill expressed gratitude for the support he received.

“I feel like our campaign was really about reaching out to folks that are in the village, not on social media, and really just want to see the place as great as it can be. Having those conversations face to face with folks was a great experience,” Hill said.

“I’m excited to work with the entire board and mayor and looking forward to all the great things that we can do together,” he added.

In a speech to her supporters, Ugrinsky also expressed appreciation for the support and help she received.

“I promise that I will do my best to try and solve some of these problems, and I don’t care if it takes two years, six years, or ten years,” Ugrinsky said. “Even if there’s a term limit, I’m here as a resident; I care so deeply about this village, and I hope to make you all proud.”

In a statement, Parziale congratulated Hill and Ugrinsky on their win, saying she looks “forward to the positive changes you will bring.”

“I remain dedicated to uniting our community and encouraging participation in the village’s ‘Make a Difference’ committees. Additionally, I am committed to advancing the uptown economic development plan and am honored to have accepted the chair of the committee,” Parziale stated.

The last meeting of the current village board will be on June 26 and the swearing-in ceremony will take place on July 4.

 

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North Shore Public Library. File photo

By Ernestine Franco

The North Shore Library held its annual budget and trustee election on Tuesday, April 9, from 9:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. 

The vote was held in one of the rooms of the library, which is located next to the Shoreham-Wading River High School.

The total budget was $3,936,406, with revenues of $231,645, which leaves $3,704,761 to be funded by taxation. This is a $96,745 increase over last year’s budget. The budget passed with 168 in favor and 52 against. There was only one trustee position to fill, with two people running. Charlotte Karpf-Fritts garnered 112 votes and Andrew Breslin with 92 votes.

When asked why she had run, Karpf-Fritts said she wanted “to help make the library a great place for people to visit.” In addition, she wanted to see someone from Sound Beach represented on the board. Her new position will start in July.

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Pictured above, Suffolk County Comptroller John M. Kennedy Jr. (R). Photo by Rita J. Egan

After serving in the office for the last eight years, Suffolk County Comptroller John M. Kennedy Jr. (R) is seeking reelection.

His challenger, Democratic Party nominee Thomas Dolan, is not openly campaigning and therefore could not be reached for comment.

‘I think Suffolk County still needs a shakedown.’

— John Kennedy

In an exclusive interview, Kennedy defined the function of the comptroller’s office, its central role in the fiscal stability of the county government, and why he is pursuing election to that office yet again.

He described his responsibilities as overseeing the county’s financial operations. However, the scope of the office goes well beyond this purpose, with auditing powers and administrative duties related to the former Office of Treasurer.

“It has been a great gig,” Kennedy said. “I have thoroughly enjoyed it. Eight years into it, I think we’ve been able to do some good things.” He spoke of his opponent, “I hear he’s a very nice individual.”

Kennedy said he has several programs and policy initiatives he intends to get off the ground if reelected. Among these is upgrading the county’s financial infrastructure to improve the office’s operations and connect currently disconnected frameworks.

“One of the components in that is unifying the capital budget function,” he said. “It is critical from a budgeting perspective, from a management perspective, that we bring all those disparate databases together so that we have continuity and good stewardship of our money.”

Kennedy also plans to request two additional auditors from the county Legislature to oversee the expenditures of approximately $185 million in opioid-related settlements to Suffolk County. [See story, “Suffolk County launches grant application program to fight opioid crisis,” TBR News Media, July 28, also TBR News Media website.]

“Many have said that they want to see contemporaneous oversight of the opioid settlements,” the county comptroller said. “We received $25 million [so far] … but unfortunately, there is a propensity in government for money to go to all different types of things.” 

He added, “Our electeds, our advocates, our treatment community want to make sure that there’s good, contemporaneous oversight regarding expenditure and use of those funds.”

Kennedy augmented his audit staff from 19 to 34 members during his two terms in the comptroller’s office. He viewed this as progress and committed to increasing the number of auditors at his disposal.

“I’ve been very aggressive with [hiring] our audit staff,” he said. “I think we need to do more of that. I want to bring that on in some other aspects of the office, including IT.”

Having served in this capacity for some time now, he believes he possesses the requisite experience and institutional knowledge to discharge the county’s finances responsibly.

“This is the kind of office that lends itself to almost limitless opportunities,” he said.

But it has yet to be smooth sailing for Kennedy or the public fund. Citing an analysis, by New York State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli (D), which considered fund balance and borrowing cycles, among other concrete financial measures, he acknowledges that Suffolk County ranks near the bottom among the state’s 62 counties in terms of fiscal responsibility.

“It’s indisputable that going back two or three years ago, we were the 62nd in ranking out of all 62 counties in the state of New York,” Kennedy said. “The most recent evaluation has moved us up.”

Despite Suffolk’s checkered financial record, the comptroller believes this assessment requires further context. He contends the analysis measures Suffolk against other counties throughout the state, which are less populated and with budgets dwarfed by Suffolk County’s $3.8 billion annual budget.

Instead, he favors an “apples to apples” method of comparing the county’s finances to those of the “Big Five”: Suffolk, Nassau, Erie, Monroe and Albany counties.

“They’re the largest concentrations of cities, budget size and municipal function,” he said, adding, “We’re somewhat comparable with them.”

Still, Kennedy supports “serious fiscal reform,” stating that he intends to embark upon a “shakedown” of the county government.

“I think Suffolk County still needs a shakedown,” he said. “The underlying platform and premise for us is unsustainable. Unless we do something to address the proliferation of things that we have — and the areas where we’re not delivering services adequately — I think we will be destined for serious financial strife in ‘24.”

The county government may be able to get through the 2023 fiscal year comfortably, according to Kennedy, due to substantial financial reserves generated during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, he foresees those reserves drying up and the effects to be felt within a year. 

“We are on a runaway train with inflation,” he said. “We are seriously, seriously compromised internally in our financial structure.”

Throughout the interview, Kennedy named several individuals with whom he disagreed on policy grounds. In the face of these differences, he finds that he still manages to build bridges across the aisle and discover common ground. 

“The middle [of the road], registered, undeclared [voting population] keeps growing,” he explained. “My sense with folks that are in that category is they want to talk about the issues, hear about what’s important to them, and know what you’re going to do with the opportunity they give you.”

Kennedy asserted that the general public is decreasingly tolerant of partisans and political extremists. Instead, the regular voter thirsts for tangible results from the government. The county comptroller says his efforts to reach across the aisle have generally been reciprocal.

“What I’m talking about with them is the operations, the nuts and bolts of government,” he said. “I’m not talking about whether you’re pro-abortion or pro-life, or whether you believe in cashless bail or whether you want to legalize heroine.”

He added, “I’m talking about how to pay bills, how to recruit and keep talent, how to do the things necessary for the vast majority of people that interact with the county government.”

Whether Kennedy will apply his “nuts and bolts” political philosophy to other realms of the county government is still to be decided. Next year, the highest post in Suffolk County, the office of county executive, will be up for grabs.

Kennedy received the Republican nomination for county executive in 2019, but was defeated by incumbent Steve Bellone (D). When asked if he would pursue that office again, Kennedy responded, “We’ll see what the future brings.”

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METRO photo

By Daniel Dunaief

Daniel Dunaief

Are we coming apart together, coming together apart or just coming apart? The first in that list, coming apart together, gives us a chance to feel connected to others. By coming apart together, we are acknowledging the challenging year we’ve had and continue to have.

Without offering specific solutions, it helps to know we’re not alone and that, perhaps, through the together part, we can manage through conditions that are far from optimal, including the separation we feel from so many people we need in our lives.

Now, if we’re coming together apart, we are focusing on the fact that we can be, and are, together first, before we also admit that we may be hundreds or even thousands of miles away from people whose hugs, smiles and laughter fill the rooms we share. Zoom, FaceTime and other modern conveniences make it possible for us to see each other’s faces, even though the image of the other person can feel flat compared to the reality of sharing time and space.

The third of those possibilities, just plain coming apart, enables us to throw up our arms and acknowledge the reality of our world. Many children are home most, or all, the time. Parents are still working through
Zoom, looking at small squares of people on computer screens for way too many hours during the day. The sameness of each day can become tedious and wear on our nerves, especially during this time when we’d typically plan for family visits.

And, of course, without passing any specific judgment, the hot button election continues to drive wedges among families, friends and neighbors, who can’t imagine how the other side fails to see the obvious realities their favorite anchors or faux news and commentary shows echo each day.

It’s agonizing to see how the differences between camps have become a defining feature and have stirred a sense of frustration and antipathy for the other camp.

Where are the adults in the room? For so long, the country brought together people from different backgrounds, uniting us under the umbrella of an American Dream that was available to anyone who worked hard enough for it.

Our sports-crazed culture believed in the winners they cheered for and used their teams as an inspiration to get ahead, to put more into their craft and to try to win the battle for original ideas. Even fans of hated rivals acknowledged the skills and remarkable games they witnessed from their rivals during heated playoff series. I always rooted against Red Sox great Carl Yastrzemski, but I also recognized his incredible talent.

Will a vaccine enable us to come together, together? I hope so. Next year at this time, if we have returned to some level of normalcy that allowed us to visit with our friends, to celebrate weddings, graduations, birthdays, and newborns, we will have the structural opportunities to spend time indoors, even in crowded rooms, and support each other.

Between now and then, ideally we’d plant the seeds that enable us to move forward together. We are not an archipelago nation, separated from each other by the ideological, religious or other labels. We do best when we play to the strengths of a workforce dedicated to getting ahead, to providing for our children and to helping the country even as we help ourselves.

While many of us are physically apart, we can try to reach out to family, friends, and neighbors, even if their ideas temporarily baffle us. We can come together if we are there for each other and if we listen to views outside our own.

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The Belle Terre village board. File photo by Kyle Barr

Two seats are up for Village of Belle Terre trustee positions, where two incumbents and one newcomer are looking for residents’ votes come June 18.

Judy Zaino

Judy Zaino

Zaino, an incumbent and longtime Belle Terre resident, is looking for another two years on the board.

She is a 21-year resident of Belle Terre and said she became extremely active in village life after she retired in 2005. 

Prior to being on the board, she was involved with the Belle Terre Community Association working alongside the village to augment various projects, including redoing the wall in front of the Belle Terre Community Center, parks projects, garden tours and other programs.

“In my own opinion, giving back to your community is a very noble thing to do,” she said.

After being asked to be trustee by the board, she said the village has been working on road and drainage repairs, erosion control on village property, maintenance of the community center and managing the beach, which is used by both Belle Terre and Port Jefferson villages.

In addition, she said the village is in the midst of upgrading the beach facilities with handicapped bathrooms and upgrades to the existing building, and she said she has worked, along with the rest of the board, in getting the cell tower in Belle Terre up and running.

“For the safety of the community, if you lived in one part of Port Jefferson and your teenager was somewhere else, you had communication with them because of the cell service,” Zaino said. “Prior to that it was really spotty.”

She said that she, and fellow incumbent Richard Musto, have been frontrunners on dealing with the deer and tick issue in the village.

Dr. Richard Musto

Dr. Richard Musto

As a resident since 1984, Musto is looking to continue his efforts on the board for the third year and his second term.

Musto, who has held several leadership roles in urology in hospitals across Long Island and is now retired, said he got onto the board through a desire to know what was going on in his hometown. He was asked to fill in the term of one retired trustee and was elected in 2017 to the board.

“I went to meetings and started asking questions, so they asked if I would like to be on the deer committee,” he said. “I’ve always been on committees, so it was really kind of interesting and fun to do.”

After his work on the deer committee, he said the village has been looking for ways to decrease the tick population, and officials have been in contact with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

He said he has also become involved in village security through its security cameras. He said the village is also looking at certain roads and looking to upgrade amenities at the village beach.

“I find it extremely interesting to find how a local government works,” he said. “I find it amazing for such a small village to see all the things that are involved and all the things you have to be aware of and know about.”

Dr. Caroline Engelhardt

Dr. Caroline Engelhardt

Newcomer Engelhardt, a 23-year resident of the village, said she is running to try and put a little energy behind village policy. She said she is uncommon in Belle Terre, as other candidates have been appointed to the board after other trustees retire instead of being elected to the position.

“We have the same people running all the time — I’m actually running as a candidate,” she said. “I’m running because I want to see change in Belle Terre.”

Engelhardt said now that her youngest daughter is out of the house in college, she has time to work for her village. She is a practicing anesthesiologist with degrees from New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine, and said she is a community-minded person who works to make people feel better. 

“I’ve been taking care of the community medically for 25 years,” she said. “I have a lot of energy. I can be seen walking through the village at 5 in the morning.”

She’s running on several points. One is to add more amenities to the beach, such as looking to bring in a food truck that could help feed people as they’re enjoying the sand and surf. She also said she would focus on getting roads repaired and working with the Long Island Power Authority to clear tree limbs hanging near power lines. In terms of erosion, she said she is wary of any sort of wall being built without careful consideration and was especially concerned that a wall would stop erosion in one location and create more erosion in another. She said she would like to see the village form a committee in order to deal with erosion on village property.

“We have to protect that property,” she said.

The vote will be held at the Belle Terre Community Center on 55 Cliff Road from 12 to 9 p.m. June 18. 

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Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone has called on residents to donate PPE for health care workers and first responders. File photo by Kyle Barr

Suffolk County financial reform has leaped to the tops of the minds of members of both parties in county government.

County Executive Steve Bellone (D) announced proposals aimed at strengthening Suffolk’s financial future at a press conference in Hauppauge Feb. 27. As part of the Securing Suffolk’s Financial Future Act, Bellone proposed amending the county Tax Act to allow the county to collect tax revenue that is owed in January, instead of waiting until June. Officials said the plan is the latest in the county’s efforts to streamline operations and be more efficient. 

Bellone said the goal of the plan is to help strengthen the county’s financial condition going forward. 

“It would ensure the county would get tax revenue that it is owed at the beginning of the year instead of waiting until June and [being] forced to borrow funds.”

— Steve Bellone

“When we look at planning ahead, looking beyond where we are today and thinking about where we’ll be five, 10, 15 years down the road — it’s important that we do that,” the county executive said. 

The plan would build upon previous undertakings by the county, which include bipartisan efforts to bring the county in line with the best finance practices set forth by financial experts from the Office of the New York State Comptroller and the Government Finance Officers Association, according to Bellone. 

In doing so, the county would press to amend the Tax Act, which would require state legislation. The county executive said the 100-year-old law is seriously outdated.

“It would ensure the county would get tax revenue that it is owed at the beginning of the year instead of waiting until June and [being] forced to borrow funds,” he said. “This is an issue that crosses party lines, this is not an issue that is partisan or [one] that should be partisan.”

The county executive called for the authorization of a four-year budget plan, which would allow the county to focus on long-term projects as well as updated debt management and fund balance policies. New computer software will be purchased to enhance transparency and
accountability.

Suffolk Comptroller John Kennedy Jr. (R), a known critic of Bellone, announced plans in February to run for county executive in November. His campaign has attacked Bellone on the current state of the county’s finances, placing a lot of the blame on his Democratic contender for a downgrade in Suffolk’s bond rating and for raising county fees. 

Kennedy said Bellone is just attempting to look fiscally responsible.

“Steve Bellone doesn’t know how to spend less,” Kennedy said. 

In a Jan. 31 TBR News Media article, Eric Naughton, Suffolk’s budget director, said while the county’s bond rating has dropped, Kennedy were “overstating” the impact. He said Moody’s, which gives the bond grades to municipalities, was only looking at the past and not the future. Kennedy has said he plans to consolidate county offices in order to reduce taxes.

Legislator Rob Calarco (D-Patchogue), deputy presiding officer, said fiscal responsibility is the top priority when talking about taxpayer dollars. 

“These policies that we are laying out are common-sense ways to ensure that we are transparent with the public,” he said. 

The county executive also called for re-establishing an insurance reserve fund, originally created in 1980, which would assist in paying unexpected legal expenses. There was a call as well to reorganize the county’s audit joint committee and add more members. 

“Steve Bellone doesn’t know how to spend less.”

— John Kennedy Jr.

Bellone said the changes would allow for a more robust and diversified review of the fiscal condition of the county. 

Deputy County Executive Jon Kaiman (D), who helped piece the plan together along with a team from the county executive’s office, said its goal was to figure out how Suffolk County can be best managed and reach its fullest potential. 

“What we can do is to present reform in a manner to get the best out of what this county can offer,” Kaiman said. 

County officials indicated legislation has been filed and expect a hearing to be set at the end of March and the proposals could be up for consideration into law sometime in April. 

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Rona Smith is challenging Anthony Palumbo for his New York State Assembly seat. Photos by Alex Petroski

The North Shore’s easternmost New York State Assembly District — which juts as far west as Mount Sinai and portions of Port Jefferson — has been represented by an incumbent Republican since 2013, and a first-time candidate for political office is seeking to unseat him.

Assemblyman Anthony Palumbo (R-New Suffolk) was elected in a special election to represent the 2nd District in 2013 and won subsequent races in 2014 and 2016. The 48-year-old practicing lawyer will be challenged this Election Day by 73-year-old Democrat Rona Smith, a newcomer to politics from Greenport with government experience, as she currently serves as the chairwoman of the Housing Advisory Commission for Southold Town.

The candidates sat down for a debate at the TBR News Media in Setauket in October to discuss issues impacting the district.

Health care

The future of health care is at the top of minds for candidates in federal and state races alike this cycle, likely because it’s on the minds of their common constituents. State law can be used in conjunction with federal law regarding health care, meaning the legislative houses of New York’s government will have an opportunity to stabilize health care policy for its residents as the federal Affordable Care Act waits in limbo for a bipartisan solution in Congress.

Democrats in the Assembly have passed a single-payer health care bill — meaning essentially everyone in the state would pay into a pool and everyone would be covered — which has gotten no traction in the state Senate, controlled by Republicans, and appears unlikely ever to become the law.

As the ACA suffers, Palumbo said he would suggest some simple tweaks to improve the current system, rather than implementing a single-payer bill, which he said he believes will be too expensive.

“When you think about the numbers, we’re talking about 900,000 people in New York state are uninsured — they’re between the Medicaid gap and the private insurance gap — that’s 5 percent,” he said. “Not a lot I think, generally speaking.”

He suggested bringing back the Family Health Plus option, a subsidized plan for low-income individuals, which wasn’t available under the ACA, rather than “overhauling” state tax code to afford a single-payer scheme.

“Nothing comes off the shelf perfect,” Smith said of both the ACA and the single-payer bill passed by the Assembly. “They’re not perfect, they’re attempts to try to make sure that everybody — rich, poor, old, young — has health insurance they can depend upon for any health need that comes up. We have got to figure out how to do it.”

Affordability and opportunity

The candidates agreed there are obstacles for people — but especially recent college graduates — for being able to live and prosper both in the district and in the county as a whole. The problem will only be exaggerated going forward by the capping of state and local tax deductions, a component of the new federal tax code bill that will disproportionately impact homeowners in high-tax states like New York.

Smith said she would home in on reducing student loan debt as a means to foster more affordability, in addition to investment in more affordable housing projects for low-income individuals, a plan she said Democrats in the Assembly are already working on.

She said students need access to mandated, objective advice when it comes to borrowing and affording college, rather than just input from for-profit loan collection businesses.

Palumbo said New York’s susceptibility to outward migration can be traced to out-of-control budgeting and spending.

“It’s conservative fiscal values that we need to have,” he said.

He said the Assembly has been working on a solution to mitigate the capping of the SALT deduction at $10,000, though so far the IRS has not blessed any of the fixes.

Infrastructure investment

Investing in projects that could stimulate the local economy is seen as a solution by members of both parties. Currently legislators in New York are gathering funds to study the feasibility of electrifying the Long Island Rail Road east of Huntington on the North Shore line, an idea many have suggested to increase opportunities for people to live and work in the area.

“I think investments in infrastructure always come back in salaries and benefits for people,” Smith said. “It might make housing more accessible.”

She said electrification might be the answer, but the state’s economy could be better served by using the LIRR to ship freight, an idea that would allow farmers and vineyards on the East End to ship fresh products beyond the direct vicinity.

Palumbo said he would go in another direction instead of committing major funds to electrify the LIRR line. He said he would like to see the results of a study examining LIRR ridership to the East End before going down that road and would prefer to see smarter leadership from the Metropolitan Transit Authority when it comes to train schedules and usage.

He also called on school districts to examine ways to scale down spending, which is the largest driver of increasing property taxes.

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There is a lot of stress in our lives these days. Stress envelops us. One man I know complained that even in his home, he does not feel stress free. When he puts on the television or radio, the now-commonplace partisan viewpoints surround him. And that is the least of it. The horrific shooting in a Pittsburgh synagogue, pipe bombs sent to at least 15 different targets perceived to be Democratic in nature throughout the United States, the shooting at a school in North Carolina and more make up some of the news just this past week. There seems to be no escape. Even conversation with customers or spouses inevitably touches on the daily stressful events.

Surely there have been times of even greater stress in our country. World War II comes immediately to mind. The Cold War, with regular air raids, was another. The Cuban Missile Crisis was yet another. But these were all threats from outside: from the Nazis, the Japanese, the Soviet Union. The stress today, whether rhetorical or physical, is domestic and aimed by Americans against other Americans. Worst of all, as political partisans denigrate opponents and gun violence becomes tragically routine, there doesn’t seem to be an end in sight.

Can we learn to manage the stress in our lives? The Harvard Women’s Health Watch advises that we can. In the August issue, published by a division of Harvard Medical School, physicians offer some information about stress and its effects. They also give some suggestions for coping with stress.

First the information. “It’s not uncommon to feel disorganized and forgetful when you’re under a lot of stress,” the article, “Protect your brain from stress,” explained. “But over the long term, stress may actually change your brain in ways that affect your memory.” Because stress can influence how the brain functions, including not only memory but also mood and anxiety, it can cause inflammation. This in turn can affect heart health. Thus stress has been associated with multiple chronic diseases of the brain and heart, according to Harvard physicians.

The brain is not just a single unit but a group of different parts that perform different tasks, according to the Harvard article. When one part is engaged, researchers believe that other parts may not have as much energy for their specialized functions. One example is if you are in a dangerous situation, the amygdala section takes over to ensure survival, while the energy level in parts having to do with memory or higher-order tasks recedes. Hence you might be more forgetful when stressed.

“There is evidence that chronic (persistent) stress may actually rewire your brain,” according to the research, as if exercising one section makes it stronger while other sections, like that having to do with more complex thought, take “a back seat.” Such brain changes may be reversible.

There are various kinds of stress. For example, one feels differently before taking a big test compared with that experienced in a car accident. More stress is worse, and long-term stress is generally worse than short-term stress, according to the physicians. Unpredictable stress is worse than stress that can be anticipated. Chronic stress can be more challenging than one that will end shortly. Feeling supported by others most likely mitigates stress effects.

So here is some advice from the Harvard publication on how to cope with stress. Establish some control over your situation such as by setting a routine. Get organized. Get a good night’s sleep — hard to do when stressed but going to bed and waking up at the same time each day helps, as does avoiding caffeine and creating a relaxing sleep environment. Get help, sooner rather than later. And try to change your attitude toward stress by striving for healthier responses to stress. Use its effects, if you can, to high power you to a goal. Like voting.

And I say, turn off the television and the instant news briefs on your cellphone for some quiet time each day.

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